


You Are My Heaven

by whatsmentalhealth



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Abusive John Winchester, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Awesome Eileen Leahy, Awkward Castiel (Supernatural), Bisexual Dean Winchester, Casual Sex, College, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Found Family, Friends to Lovers, Gay Castiel (Supernatural), Jack Kline is their adopted kid, M/M, Minor Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester, Protective Dean Winchester, Roommates, Sign Language, Slow Burn, This Is Gonna Take A While, Young Sam Winchester, castiel milton - Freeform, fuck buddies, john winchesters A+ parenting, lots of background relationships, not explicit, this is mostly a destiel fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:21:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29553447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatsmentalhealth/pseuds/whatsmentalhealth
Summary: Sam and Dean Winchester just moved away from home so Sam could attend Standford, while Dean works at a nearby auto shop. Castiel is Sam’s new roommate in the dorms, and he gets along really well with Dean. Dean lives in a shitty ass hotel with some loud ass neighbors. Sam finds many loves and loses some. Dean and Cas become best friends, not noticing that they might be more.
Relationships: Benny Lafitte/Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dorothy Baum/Charlie Bradbury, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Ruby/Sam Winchester
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> College Au!! I’m terrible at summaries but trust me there’s gonna be a ton more than what’s listed in the summary. I hope you enjoy!! <3

It’s Sam’s first day of college, and Dean has been working his ass off to help his brother move into his dorm room. It was just Dean and Sam because of course John refused to help, but only after making it abundantly clear that he disapproved Sam going to college out of state.   
  


Sam had worked all through high school to get good enough grades to get into Stanford and could not wait to be away from his shit excuse for a father. Dean had been upset about it at first, the idea of living alone with his dad was not appealing to him. Sam couldn’t blame him. But as soon as John threatened to never let Sam back in, Dean decided it was time for him to move out as well.   
  


He didn’t finish high school, but he was pretty good with cars so he was confident he could find a job as a mechanic somewhere close to Sam’s university. He worked briefly as a mechanics assistant for his Uncle Bobby while Sam was finishing up high school. How hard could it be to find a job and a place to live close to Sam?   
  


He’d have to answer that later, because for now he still had about two boxes to help Sam unload. His dorm room was on the fourth floor, he’ll have a fun time lugging up all those stairs every day.   
  


“Sammy, how much stuff did you bring? For Christ’s sake.” He muttered as he unloaded yet another box of stuff.   
  


“Dean, dad said to not come home. I took everything.” Sam said, trying not to show how sad he really was. Yes, his dad was a major asshole, but part of him still wanted his admiration and approval. He hated that he still cared about him at all, especially after everything he put him and Dean through. But he did.   
  


“Sam, he didn’t mean it. You know how he is when he drinks. Of course you can go home.” Dean tried to reassure his brother, though Dean knew that their dad would definitely throw a fit if Sam ever went home. Sam just ignored his brother and continued to put away his clothes in the dresser underneath his bed.   
  


The room was small, his roommate’s bed was only a few feet away from his own, and their desks were only three feet from the end of their beds. It had a weird boxy ceiling and an ugly shade of tan painted on the walls. Sam didn’t mind any of that though. He was excited even. His whole life he’d moved around with Dean and his dad. And yes, they settled down the past two years in Kansas. But Sam never felt at home anywhere. Most likely because he’s always lived with his dad, with his harsh words and hot breath that crowded the back of his neck as John yelled.

So Sam was hopeful for his new beginning, and Dean was too.   
  


“So have you met your roommate yet?” Dean asked absentmindedly, laying down on Sam’s unmade bed. 

“Uh not in person. We emailed a bit when we were first assigned. His name’s Castiel.” Sam told his brother.   
  


“Castiel?” Dean asked, confused at the name. The way his lips said the unfamiliar word automatically felt normal. Like it was something he always knew, but was unaware of.   
  


“Yeah, he’s a senior actually. That’s about all I know about him.” Sam pushed his brother off the bed so he could make it with sheets.   
“He’s a senior? Living in the dorms? Huh.” Dean grumbled, going into the bathroom they shared with the dorm next to them. He stared at himself in the mirror, leaning against the open bathroom door. He could see the circles under his eyes, he hadn’t been sleeping well. Well, that implies he’d ever slept well. He could see the slight trace of an old bruise along his cheek bone and up around his eye. It was faint by now.   
  


“Um, hello?” Sam and Dean turned towards the deep, rough voice that came from the door of the dorm. In the door stood an awkward, shorter, and dark haired man. He was wearing a button down tucked into slacks, and had a weird tan coat on over it. He had one roller suitcase and one big duffle bag thrown over his shoulder.   
  


“Uh hey man, are you Castiel?” Sam asked excitedly. Dean could see his brother’s smile and could practically feel the excited energy coming from him. To be honest, it kind of bummed him out.   
  


“Yes, you’re Sam?” Castiel responded, setting his bag down on the other bed and putting his hand out to shake. Sam shook his hand and nodded. Castiel’s gaze slowly moved to Dean’s face, which was conveying protective energy to the max. Sam rolled his eyes at his brother and let go of Castiel’s hand.   
  


“I’m Dean, Sam’s older brother.” Dean moved Sam to shake the new guy’s hand. Dean noticed the sincerity in his handshake, a firm but not rough shake. He also noticed the curiosity in the man’s eyes. The bright blue eyes, he noted, that were staring right into his.   
  


“It’s nice to meet you both.” Castiel said, not quite letting go of Dean’s hand. He eventually moved away to start putting his things away.   
  


“Sam tells me you’re a senior?” Dean asks him.   
“Yes, I’m a majoring in world religions.” Castiel answered as he put his little belongings away.   
“I’m pre-law.” Sam informed him, and Castiel provided a polite smile.   
“So why are you in the dorms if you’re a senior?” Dean asked, Sam slapped his arm.   
  


“Dean!” Sam said, Dean looked at him surprised.   
“No, it’s a fair question. I lived in the dorms both freshmen and sophomore year and I was doing study abroad last year. Dorms are just familiar I suppose.” Castiel didn’t mind answering questions, though he thought it a bit odd how protective Sam’s brother was.   
  


“You don’t have any friends to get an apartment with?” Dean asked bluntly. Sam put his head in his hands, but Castiel just laughed.   
  


“My friends are all living with their significant others, I’d only be a third wheel I’m afraid.” Dean seemed to accept this answer and let Castiel finish his packing with out any more questions.   
  


Dean and Sam chatted briefly before Dean left Sam to do ‘college things’ as Dean put it. He had found an apartment across from campus, and close enough to the auto shop he’d gotten an interview at. The apartment was shitty, and small as hell. But it had a shower with warm water and WiFi, so he couldn’t really complain.   
  


He had dropped his things off before he and Sam went to Sam’s dorm. He’d met the landlord then and gotten his key and everything. He still had to unpack what stuff he had brought with him, but he didn’t want to bother his brother with that right now.   
  
He and Sam had left the previous day, it was kind of a blur for him. His dad had left town a few days before, to go on a bender most likely. The fight between the three of them was still haunting Dean, and he had that nice faint bruise on his face to remind him.   
  


He said his goodbyes to Ellen and Bobby of course. He briefly saw Ash before he left as well. Jo was on a road trip with her friends but Dean made sure to let her know that they’d see each other again.   
He and Sam went to their mom’s grave as well, Sam insisted just in case he never came back.   
  


Mary was buried in Lawerence, Kansas when Dean was four. House fire. John then dragged his kids across the country, he was a marine so he was relocated pretty often. He was discharged two years ago, and decided to move back where they lived before the accident.   
  


Dean shook his thoughts aside and moved to put his things away.   
  


Castiel had just finished putting his books and school supplies on his desk. He had a specific way of organizing his things, not proper by any means, but he knew where everything was. He and Sam had been casually talking about the university for the past hour. Sam seemed nice enough, a little shy. He was more comfortable when his brother was there, which makes sense. He was a freshman after all.   
  


“So, does your brother go here as well?” He asked, trying to sound casual. 

“Dean? No, he’s not a college guy. He’s gonna work at the auto shop around the corner. Got himself a shitty apartment nearby.”   
  


“It’s nice that he lives so close.” Castiel concluded.   
Sam smiled to himself and nodded. 

“You have any family nearby?” Sam asked.   
“My sister is a junior here. But besides that no. We’re from Oregon.” 

Sam had been going to classes for about a week, and had been on campus for about two weeks. He loves it, it’s so different from back home. People here are so much more open minded. Which is pretty important when wanting to be lawyer. He had even made a few friends! Okay, that’s not exactly true. He considered himself friends with Castiel, and he talked to Madison and Jessica pretty much everyday, but only in class. He hadn’t gone to any parties, which greatly surprised Dean.   
  


“Sammy, it’s a Friday night! Aren’t you supposed to be partying right now?” He said when Sam called him that night.   
“Dean. Not everyone goes to parties in college.” He deadpanned.   
“Yeah only the cool people I guess.” Dean remarked.   
“How’s the shop job going?” He asked, hoping to change the topic.   
“Really well, though I’m mostly working under cars all day. Almost no human interaction. Maybe I should go to a college party.” He joked.   
“Please don’t, Dean. You’re too old man.” Sam laughed.   
“I’m only one year older than most seniors! Same age as any senior who took a gap year.” Sam rolled his eyes.   
  


“Whatever, if you can get into a party without anyone noticing that you don’t go actually go here than go for it.”   
“Oh you shouldn’t have said that, now I’m gonna do it.”   
“Ugh whatever man. Just don’t sleep with any freshmen, they’re too young for you man.”   
“I’m offended you think I would do anything creepy, I respect women dude!” Dean defended himself. Sam scoffs and says his goodbyes.   
  


Castiel is out for the night, he told him he was out with some of his friends. He had invited Sam but he declined in favor of spending a nice night alone. 

He got bored of that quickly.   
He decided to walk around campus, it was dark out so he made sure his phone was fully charged. Not that he couldn’t take anyone who tried anything, but still. Not that anyone would even try though. He’s 6’4 for Christ’s sake, someone would have a fun time trying him.   
  


As he was walking he saw a familiar face walking around with a backpack. He pulled out his earbuds.   
  


“Jessica! Hey!” He said awkwardly, he was always flustered around her.   
  


“Sam! Hey man. What are you doing out here?” She asked, pausing her music. 

“Just out for a walk, it’s nice out. You?”   
“Same.”   
“Do you um, want to walk together?” He asked her. She smiled and nodded.   
  


“So how’s your first week going?” She asked him, a light smile gracing her face. 

“Well! I think... Pre-Law is pretty much what I expected, lots of work already.” She laughed and nodded.   
“What about you?”   
“Really well! My roommate is a little weird but we get along fine.”   
“Weird how?”   
“Well, she’s an art major and her desk is already covered in various art supplies. She has a bunch of her works spread across our room, and they’re really weird. They’re like, depictions of biblical stories? I don’t know, they’re graphic and almost sad?” Sam looked at the ground with his eyes scrunched up.   
“Huh, not what I was expecting. I thought you were gonna say she like, left wet towels on the floor or something.”   
  


Jessica laughed and put her hands in her jacket pockets. “Yeah, not what I was expecting either.”   
“My roommate is pretty cool. He’s quiet, and mostly hangs out with his other friends.” Jessica nods.   
“Yeah same, Anna is a junior so she already has a bunch of friends.”   
“Castiel is a senior.”   
“Interesting name, Castiel.” She remarks. Sam notices how her eyebrows soften when she smiles.   
“Heh, yeah. I think his parents were super religious or something? So like, an Angel name? Not sure.”   
“This is my dorm building,” she said, pointing to a building in front of us.   
“Well, if you ever are feeling lonely without your weird roommate, text me. Most likely, I will also be away from my weird roommate.” She stops walking and smiles. Sam smiles as, they exchange phone numbers and she goes into her dorm building. 

Sam couldn’t stop smiling all his walk home.   
  


Castiel can’t believe he let Meg convince him to come to this party. He almost never went to parties, but here he was. Meg had told him that she wouldn’t leave his side if he didn’t want her to. But as soon as her boyfriend got there they went to a room upstairs. Castiel couldn’t help but roll his eyes.   
  


“Castiel! Hey!” Castiel turned his head to see Hannah standing very close to him. Hannah was in the same major as him, so they were in a lot of the same classes.   
  


“Hannah, how are you?” He asked politely.   
“Oh great! You?”   
“It’s a little loud, but I’m good as well.” He gave her a tight lipped smile.   
“It’s probably quieter outside?” She said, with her eyebrows raised. Castiel knew that she wanted to talk to him more, and he wasn’t exactly opposed to that. At least he wouldn’t be alone. But he was aware of how Hannah saw him, and didn’t want to give her any ideas that he might feel the same.   
  


“Yeah it probably is. I’m going to get a drink, would you like anything?” He quickly changed the topic. She didn’t seem to notice his discomfort and nodded. He waded through the many bodies and arrived in the messy kitchen. Solo cups littered the floor and countertops.   
  


He grabbed a beef for himself and Hannah, he wasn’t sure what she wanted but supposed she wouldn’t care much if she didn’t specify.   
  


“Hey, you’re um, Castiel right?” A familiar voice startled Castiel from his focus on the different beer options. He looked up from the cooler to see none other than Dean Winchester.   
  


He couldn’t help but smile as he saw the man he had only met once. He was wearing a buttoned up red flannel and jeans. He had an empty beer in his hand, and slowly put it in the recycling bag.   
  


“Dean, it’s nice to meet you again.” He said, almost yelling over the loud music and yelling people. Dean smiled at him and nodded.   
“Yeah you too man.”   
“You’re at a college party? Sam said you didn’t go here?” Castiel asked him, trying not to sound rude.   
“Yeah, but I live around the corner and was looking to party. You know how it is.” He picked out a beer from the cooler and opened it with a nearby opener.   
  
“I don’t actually, I hate parties.” Castiel took out his own beer, of the same brand as Dean.   
“Hah, why’re you here then?” Dean leaned against the door jam as he sipped his drink.   
“My friend forced me. Then immediately went upstairs with her boyfriend.” He tried to sound annoyed and not pathetic, he cared a great deal about what Dean though of him for some reason.   
“Ah that old trick. Happens to the best of us.” Dean patted Castiel’s shoulder, and left his hand there a moment or two longer than necessary. Castiel couldn’t help but smile at him.   
  


“I suppose that is how it is.” He tries to remark but stops when he sees Hannah enter the kitchen.   
  


“Castiel, there you are! I thought you had gotten lost for a moment.” She said, and stood between him and Dean. Castiel put on a forced smile and glanced at Dean briefly. He gave him an impressed face, like he assumed he and Hannah were dating or something.   
  


“No, just got distracted.” He told her, she smiled and picked out her own drink. While she wasn’t looking Castiel made big eyes at Dean that read ‘save me!’. Dean nodded like he understood.   
  


“So Castiel, do you want to dance or something?” She asked, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. He felt bad that he didn’t like her honestly, she was a sweet woman and incredibly smart. But he’s made it clear several times that he wasn’t interested. He was this close to coming out to her. Only thing stopping him was the fact that she was so religious.   
  


“Uh, sorry to interrupt. I don’t think we’ve met.” Dean started, moving around Hannah to stand next to Castiel, very close next to him.  
  


Hannah looked at Dean like he had come out of nowhere.   
  


“I’m Dean, Cas’s boyfriend.” He said, putting his hand out for her to shake. Her mouth dropped just slightly, and her eyebrows raised. Castiel smiled slightly, trying to not freak out. Guess the plan of not coming out wasn’t happening.   
  


She quickly regained her composure and shook his hand, even smiled a bit. So not homophobic so far? It’s good to see that Dean isn’t, he might even be into men.   
  


“I’m Hannah, it’s nice to meet you.” They shook hands and she left talking about her friends.   
  


“Thank you, Dean.” He looked at him. Dean nodded with a slight smile.   
“No problem Cas.” His smile got bigger as he patted Castiel on the back. Castiel tilted his head and squinted his eyes. No one had ever called him that.   
  


“You called me that earlier.” Dean raised his eyebrows. “No one has called me that.”   
“Really? Seems like the obvious nickname for Castiel.”   
“I don’t think anyone has ever considered me a nickname person.” He looked at the ground, barely blushing.   
“I believe that everyone is a nickname person.” Dean smiled reassuringly.   
  


“So what’s the deal with Hannah? Ex or something?” Dean asked him.   
“No, an acquaintance. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but she’s liked me for a while. Even though I’ve made it clear I don’t feel the same.” Dean laughed at him. Castiel tilted his head again.   
“Man I’ve been there.” He shook his head like he was remembering something, then took another sip of his beer.   
  


“Well now she thinks you’re gay, or at least taken. So that’ll get her off your back for a while.”   
“I am gay, I just haven’t told her.” Castiel desperately hoped that Dean wouldn’t be weirded out by having just pretended to be dating a gay man.   
“Well sorry for outing you man.” He seemed pretty casual, so that’s good at least.   
  


“No worries, I’m not ashamed.”   
“No reason to be.” Dean held his beer out to clink with Castiel’s. They did so and drank. Castiel didn’t miss the way his fingers brushed Dean’s. Maybe he wouldn’t mind being at this party after all. 


	2. Chapter 2

Dean’s new job was exactly what he needed. He had a steady schedule, a good pay, and the job was something he actually enjoyed doing. He had some cool coworkers, though he didn’t really talk to many of them too often.   
  


His apartment wasn’t too bad either. It was a nice place to go after his tiring day of work. Something about the crappy bed that he fell into every night just felt right. Even if he could feel the springs in the bed. It was still the first place he’d ever had all to himself.   
  


Only problem was his noisy neighbor. He hadn’t met them yet, but he could hear whoever it was every night. At first it just sounded like two people fighting, probably an angry couple or something. But the other night he heard the door slam after a particularly loud argument, and since then he’s only heard soft crying. He kinda felt bad for them.   
  


He was walking back to his apartment after work on another boring Tuesday. He got in the elevator, and held the door when he saw a red headed woman trying to catch up. She nodded and thanked him when she got in herself.   
  


“Hey, you’re the new guy right? Room 3B?” The red head asked Dean. She had a sort of flustered look to her, and something about her made Dean want to give her a hug.   
  


“Uh yeah, I’m Dean. What’s your name?” He asked, holding his hand out.   
  


“I’m Charlie, room 4B. Otherwise known as the fool who’s been crying all week. Sorry for the noise, I got a noise complaint from the old lady in 6B.” She answered, and Dean immediately felt bad for being angry with her.   
  


“Hey it’s no issue. Are you okay?”   
“Oh don’t worry about me. My girlfriend and I kind of broke up, but it’s fine really.” She averted her eyes like she didn’t want him to see she was sad.   
  


They got off the elevator and walked down the hall towards their adjacent apartments.   
  


“Oh geez, I’m so sorry. If you ever like, don’t want to be alone or something... I don’t know, just feel free to come on over.” He said as they arrived at their doors. She smiled at him.   
  


“Thanks Dean. It was nice to meet you.” She waved then entered her room. Dean smiled to himself and entered his own room. He had already made a friend. Okay he’s been here for like a month so it’s not super impressive, but still.   
  


As soon as he got into his apartment he took a shower. He washed off all the car oil at the shop but he could still feel it all over him.   
  


As he got out of his shower his phone rang, it was Sam.   
  


“Hey Sammy, what’s up?” He asked, putting his phone on speaker so he could get dressed.   
  


“Nothing, just uh, can you come over?” Sam sounded fine, but the way he was talking was weird to Dean.   
  


“Is everything okay?” Dean asked his brother worriedly.   
  


“Yeah yeah, I just wanted some advice. And I don’t want to go over to your dingy apartment.” Sam laughed out, Dean rolled his eyes.   
  


“Alright fine, I’ll be over in five.” Dean finished getting ready and left.   
  


Sam hadn’t really made any more friends. He had Castiel of course, but Castiel was a quiet guy. And he didn’t really talk much about himself besides when Sam would ask directly.   
  


He talked to this other freshmen named Kevin, but they really only studied together. Poor guy seemed stressed 24/7, Sam could’ve sworn he saw him chug Tylenol at some point.

And of course there was Jessica. She was amazing. She was sweet, smart, caring, and funny. And Sam definitely had a stupid crush on her. Any time they talked he got all flustered and said something stupid. She usually just laughed it off, but it was pretty embarrassing.

That’s why he called Dean over. As much as Dean was kind of a doof, he was great with romance. Well, maybe not romance. But he knew how to make people like him.   
  
Sam opened the door of his dorm when his brother knocked on it. Dean walked in without any hesitation. Seemed about right.   
  


“Alright Sammy, what seems to be the problem?” Dean walked in looking around at all of the things Sam and Castiel had gathered since Dean had last been here. 

Dean then turned his head to Castiel, who was reading a text book on his bed, he looked at him like he just realized he was there.   
  


“Oh hey Cas,” he said, while giving Castiel a quick head nod and his signature smirk. Castiel looked up from his book and smiled just slightly.   
  


“Hello Dean.” Was all he said, but his smile hadn’t gone away. He quickly looked back down to his book. Dean turned his head away from Sam’s roommate to sit in the chair at Sam’s desk.   
  


Sam had never seen Castiel smile like that. If he didn’t know better he’d say he was... blushing? And Dean called him Cas?? Sam would definitely ask Dean about that later. 

  
Sam lifted one of his eyebrows at Dean as if to ask what that was about. Dean understood.   
“We talked at a party like two weeks ago.” He nodded to Castiel again, didn’t give anymore explanation.   
  


“You went to a party?” Sam asks Castiel in disbelief. He did not seem like the type to party, and especially not with Dean.   
  


“Against my will.” Castiel responded, not looking up from his book. Sam could see Dean smiling out of the corner of his eye. But when he looked back at him, the smile was gone.   
  


“Anyway, why am I here?” Dean asked him impatiently.   
  


“What? I can’t spend time with my older brother for no reason?” Sam asked, almost offended. He sat on his bed and crossed his arms.   
  


“You’ve been spending time with me for eighteen years, you need to make new friends.” Dean was always trying to get Sam to make friends, he was such a mom that way. Well, Sam thought that’s how a mom would act, based off tv shows.   
“Besides, on the phone you said you needed advice with something.” Dean picked up a pen and started messing with it. Dean always needed to be doing several things at once. 

“I have friends! I just don’t know them all that well...” Sam trailed off, he was now realizing that Castile was probably hearing all of this. That’s embarrassing.   
  


“Dude, come on. I had a long day at work, what’s up?” Dean did sound tired, and now Sam felt kind of bad for dragging him over here.   
  


“It’s just, well, um.” Sam stumbled through his thoughts, now and embarrassed to say any of this in front of Castiel. He was friends with him sure, but he’d never talked about girls before. Neither of them had brought any back here, or even discussed what they would do if the other wanted to.   
  


“What? Is this about a girl or something? You were always so awkward about women, it’s kind of hilarious.” Dean remarks, still clicking away at a pen. Sam could see Castiel look up at Deans subtly, Dean didn’t even notice.   
  


“Hey Cas,” Dean said after Sam refused to say anything. Castiel looked up to meet his eyes. “Has Sam mentioned any girls? Or have any passed through here?” Sam glared at his brother, then put his face in his hands.   
  


Castiel looked at Sam, like he didn’t want to tell Dean anything that Sam didn’t want him to. Sam appreciated that at least.   
  


“Fine Dean, there’s this friend of mine. Her name is Jessica.” Dean looked to Castiel as if to confirm what Sam was telling him. Castiel looked a bit awkward, like he didn’t want to get between the two brothers. Which was fair.   
  


“Yes, Jessica seems very nice. She’s in pre-law with you, correct?” Castiel asked him. Sam nodded awkwardly. Castiel started to put his books away on his desk.   
  


“So you like her?” Dean asks, giving him a knowing look. Dean was always so annoying about these sorts of things.   
  


“God you’re annoying, but yes. I like her. And I just wanted to know how I should ask her out.” Sam could tell he was blushing, and put his face in his hands again.   
  


Dean just chuckled softly, and said “Aw Sammy’s growing up.” Sam was so tempted to punch his brother.   
  


“Ahem, Sam I’m meeting my friend. I probably won’t be back tonight.” Castiel said, picking up his trench coat from his bed.   
  


That actually surprised me, he never stayed the night away. But maybe he was just trying to get away from Dean and I chatting.   
  


“Oh, uh okay man.” Sam said, giving him a nod.   
  


“I didn’t know you were seeing someone,” Dean nodded at Castiel. Castiel just rolled his eyes.   
“It’s a girl Dean. She just went through a break up.” Dean nodded and Castiel left.   
  
Once the door was closed and Castiel was for sure gone, Sam looked at Dean abruptly.   
  


“Dude.” Is all he said. Dean looked at him like he had no idea what was happening.   
“What?”   
“You and Castiel are friends or something?”   
“Yeah I guess so. We really only hung out that one time. But he’s a cool dude.”   
  
“Why’d you ask if he was seeing someone though?” 

“Last time I saw him he said he wasn’t, that’s all.”   
“He said, ‘it’s a girl’, and you dropped it.” Sam said with his signature bitch face.

”Yeah man, he’s gay. Didn’t think you’d be so bigoted man. That’s more of Dad’s thing.” Dean didn’t look at Sam’s face. As knew why.   
  


“Dude, I’m not. I was in the GSA at our last high school.” It’s true, Sam was the only straight person in the club, but he was friends with everyone there.   
  


“I’m just wondering why my roommate and my brother were talking about their sexualities and relationship statuses.” He raised his eyebrows at his brother.   
  


“Sam, if you have something to ask, just ask man. No use beating around the bush.” Dean looked a little on edge now.   
  


“Did you fuck my roommate?” Sam asked point blank.   
  


“No dude. First of all, I’m not gay. Second of all, I would never sleep with your roommate. Even if I was gay.” Dean still didn’t look at him.   
  


“Dean, I remember that argument you had with Dad your last year in high school.”   
“Sammy, you don’t know what that argument was about.”   
“It was about some friend of yours, his name was um... Lee.” Dean’s jaw tensed, he put down the pen. 

“Dean you had bruises for weeks. You dropped out of school a little while after.” Sam continued, and Dean seemed still upset.   
  


“Sam, dad didn’t need a reason to beat on us. Okay? I dropped out so I could get a job and save up for us to get away from him.” Dean finally looked at Sam. His face was stone cold. Sam knew he wasn’t telling him everything. He also knew that Dad only ever beat Dean. Not Sam. Dean never let John close to Sam when he was in his moods.   
  


“You can tell me anything, you know that right?” Sam offered. Dean plastered on a smile and leaned back in his chair, picking up a pen again.   
  


“So Jessica, tell me about her.” Dean changed the subject.   
  


“She’s in all my pre law classes. We usually partner up for projects and sometimes study together. We go on walks together sometimes, just around campus at night. She’s, amazing Dean.”   
  


“Alright so, you’re gonna ask her out right?”   
“Yeah, I just don’t know how. Or if she’ll even say yes!”   
“She goes on walks with you at night? So she trusts you. Does she ever ask you to hang out first? Or is it always you?”   
“It’s both of us. But she asked for my phone number? Does that mean anything?”   
“Okay, so next time you guys go on one of your nighttime walks, when you get to her place you’re gonna stop. You’re gonna ask her out, don’t over do it. Just be genuine and she’ll either like you or not. But if she’s as cool as you say she is, she’ll be okay with it either way.”   
  


Sam was still nervous to talk to her about this. He didn’t want to lose one of his only friends. But Dean was right, she’s cool. She’s not gonna stop being friends with him just cause they had different feelings.   
  


“Thanks Dean. I’m sorry for dragging you over here. You sound tired.” 

“I’m fine, just a lot of repetition in my days now. But you know you can call me any time of day, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Dean has always been overly protective of Sam. But he kind of appreciated it now.   
  
Sam got a notification from his phone. He took a quick look.   
  


“It’s from Jessica! She asked if I wanted to go on a walk!” Sam said excitedly. Dean grinned like a proud older brother should.   
  


“Go get em’! I’m gonna head on home alright?” Sam nodded, grabbing a jacket. 

“And remember, be yourself. If she is gonna date you, she should know what she’s in for.” Dean clapped him on the back and said good luck. Then they were both on their way.   
  


Castiel was glad to be out of his room. As much as he liked Sam, and Dean actually, he didn’t want to be caught between their weird sibling thing. He never had many fights with his siblings. Well, they had fights, Castiel tried to stay out of them. It didn’t work all the time.   
  


His family was pretty... weird. There was his eldest brother Michael, who was pretty controlling. And his younger sister Anna, she was kind of obsessed with religion, more so from an artist perspective though.   
  


His family was really close with his cousins though as well. His cousins Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Hester, and Balthazar. Castiel was only ever close with Balthazar and kind of Gabriel. He and Raphael got into fights constantly though. And Uriel always took his brother’s side of course. 

The lot of them were all pretty homophobic, so Castiel was almost estranged from the majority of his family. He kept in contact with Anna obviously, and occasionally got a call from Gabriel. His cousin Balthazar had moved to Britain, but he got a text from time to time. 

Castiel couldn’t stop thinking about his family as he walked to his friend’s apartment. It was pretty shitty, but she had moved in there with her girlfriend Gilda at the beginning of the year.   
  


He arrived to her apartment and knocked on the door. She opened the door immediately and was pulled into a hug.   
  


“Okay, okay, it’s good to see you too.” He said after a minute.   
  
“Sorry Cassie, I’ve been going through it though.” Charlie said, pulling away. Her face was puffed and red from crying. Her hair was pulled back in a messy array. She was wearing a t shirt and pajama bottoms.   
  


When Castiel walked in, he saw she was watching Princess Bride. She and Gilda would watch that at least every month. They could both quote the entire movie. This meant she was just letting herself drown in her own sadness.   
  


“Charlie, Princess Bride? Right now?” He asked her, taking off his coat.   
  


“It was our movie!” She said, exasperated. “Okay, we’re gonna watch something else. Something that doesn’t have to do with Gilda.” Castiel decided, turning off the movie.   
  


“Fine.” Charlie grumbled. Castiel set up Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season three. It was one of their favorite shows to watch together, and Gilda never watched it with Charlie cause she thought it was too “gory”. Ridiculous honestly.   
  


Castiel made popcorn for them while the first episode of the season started, Charlie sat on the couch with a box of tissues and a water bottle with her. At least she was staying hydrated, Castiel thought.   
  


They hadn’t even finished the episode when Charlie started talking about something unrelated.   
  


“So I met my neighbor today, the new one.” She said, chewing some popcorn.   
  


“The one who reported a noise complaint?”   
“No that was the old lady. This guy is new, he’s young too. Our age I imagine.”   
“Oh, how’d you meet?”   
“He held the elevator door open for me. Then we just started chatting, and he was cool when I told him about the breakup, so he’s not homophobic. Or he is and he’s just attracted to lesbian women, not sure...” Charlie trailed off, Castiel cringed. Men like that were disgusting.   
  


“Well did he do anything creepy?”   
“No! He was actually really nice. He said if I ever needed to talk he’d be there. And it didn’t even sound like he was trying to hook up with me, so bonus!”   
“An actually decent man, what a rarity.” Castiel said, rolling his eyes.   
  


“Oh come on Cassie, he’s nice. You know, he might even be gay...” Castiel looked at her.   
“You try to set me up with almost every gay man you meet.” He rolled his eyes.   
  


“Okay but imagine how cool it would be if your boyfriend lived right next to me!” Castiel could think of several reasons why that wouldn’t be cool.   
  
“You don’t even know he’s gay, or if he’s my type.” Now Charlie rolled her eyes.   
  


“Trust me, he’s your type.”   
“Do you even know his name?”   
“Uhm... yeah. It’s Dean, I think.”   
“Dean? Like Dean Winchester?”   
“He didn’t say his last name, why? Who’s Dean Winchester?”   
“Sam’s older brother, the one I talked to at the party a couple weeks ago.”   
“Wait! The one who pretended to be your boyfriend?? Who you thought was super cute and attractive??” Charlie was now sitting up.   
  


“Okay I’m fairly certain I never said he was either of those things.” He had to look away. 

“You said he was a tall handsome guy! With gorgeous eyes! That’s what you texted me!” She was getting her phone out now, to find the text presumably.   
  


“Alright, but I’m not attracted to him. He’s just very nice looking.”   
“Pfft, yeah right.”   
“He’s not even gay Charlie, plus he’s my roommates brother.”   
“You barely talk to Sam! How do you even know he’s not gay?”   
“Well... I told him I was and he didn’t say he was.”   
“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“His brother asked him over to our room today to ask for girl advice. Okay? He’s an expert on women or something. He strikes me as the sort of person who sleeps around a lot. Which is fine, but he sleeps with women, not men!”   
  


“Okay, did you forget bisexual and pansexual people existed? He could like women and men.” Charlie reasoned. Castiel looked away.   
  


“You know, I think I hear him coming down the halls. Why don’t we go see if it’s the same guy.” Charlie was out of her seat before Castiel could stop her.   
  


She opened up the door just was Dean was turning the lock to his. And there he was, it was indeed Dean Winchester. 

“Hey Dean!” Charlie waved to him, Dean looked up and saw the two of them. He paused when he saw Castiel.   
  


“Hey Charlie,” he waved at her but kept looking at Castiel. “Hey Cas, whatcha doing here?”   
  


“This is my friend Charlie, the one I was talking about earlier.” He explained to Dean, shifting uncomfortably on his feet.   
  


“Cas?” Charlie whispered to Castiel while laughing. He gently slapped her shoulder.   
  


“I didn’t know you were neighbors,” Castiel continues.   
“I didn’t know you two knew each other.” Dean said, leaning against the hallway wall.   
  


“We met at Stanford two years ago, I’m a tech major there.” Charlie offered, Dean nodded. He looked tired.   
  


“Hey, we’re just watching tv, would you Wanna join?” Charlie offered him. Dean looked surprised for a moment then smiled.   
  


“Yeah, sure. Whatcha guys watching?” He strolled over to them and they all walked inside.   
  


“Buffy the Vampire slayer,” Castiel said, sitting down on one end of the couch.   
  


“Oh I’m always down to watch some BtVS,” Dean said, sitting on the other side. Charlie sat between them.   
  


“You’ve seen it?” Castiel asks.   
“Oh yeah, I love this show.”   
“We watch it all the time!” Charlie says, cleaning up her coffee table. “Sorry for the mess, I’m kind of a wreck right now.” She says.   
  


“Don’t worry about it.” Dean says. They watch a couple episodes together, talking during it cause they’ve all seen it before.   
  


Dean got a text after episode two that had him jump off the couch with excitement.   
  


“Sammy got a date!” He exclaimed loudly. 

“Really? With Jessica? That was fast.” Castiel says. Charlie looks a little confused and Dean notices.   
  


“Sammy is my little brother, he’s roommates with Cas here. He’s been crushing on this girl since he met her and he finally asked her out! She said yes!” He sat back down but was obviously more excited.   
  


“He had some help from you I presume,” Castiel says.   
“A little I guess. I just gave him a confidence boost really.” Dean was being modest. Castiel could tell.   
  


“Tell him I say congratulations.” Castiel says instead. Dean nods and they continue to watch the show. Charlie suggests a drinking game at some point, but both Dean and Castiel agree that she probably shouldn’t be drinking right now. She agrees begrudgingly.   
  


Castiel eventually falls asleep during the tenth episode. When he wakes up a few hours later the tv is off, the lights are all out, and Charlie isn’t in the room. Dean is also asleep on his side of the couch. Castiel gets up and walks around the apartment to find Charlie.   
  


She’s in her room, looking at a picture of her and Gilda. Castiel sits down next to her. She’s crying quietly.   
  


She sniffles when he wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her closer. 

“Heh, hey Cassie,” she sniffles out.   
“Hey,” is all he says.

They sit there for a minute, Charlie wraps her arms around Castiel in a hug.   
  


“I didn’t know I could hurt this much after a break up. I never have before.” She cries into his shoulder.

“Gilda was important to you. You guys were in love. It’s normal to be heart broken now that she’s gone.”   
“I still love her Cassie.”   
“I know, that probably won’t go away for a while.”   
“I don’t know what to do.”   
“You don’t have to do anything. For right now, just sit with me okay? I’ll be here for you as long as you need me.” She nods into his shoulder.   
  


“I’m so sick of crying over her though.”   
“There’s nothing wrong with crying Charlie, it lets us express how we’re feeling. You can cry all you need. I won’t mind. And fuck all those annoying neighbors, they don’t matter right now.”   
  


“Thanks Cassie, I love you.”   
“I love you too.” 


	3. Chapter 3

Sam had never been so nervous about asking someone out, but Jessica was his friend first. He’d known her for about a month and they were actually friends. Growing up he’d moved so often he never bothered making friends. Even in the past two years when he lived in Lebanon, he didn’t bother getting to know anyone.   
  


But here was this amazing person who he was friends with and he cared so much about her already and he barely knew her. It was scaring him how she made his walls go down, he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not.   
  


But she agreed to go out with him, she seemed excited even. He’d been pacing his room for a couple days about what they’d do, where’d they go.   
  


The morning after he asked Jess out he noticed Castiel coming in late the next morning. Which he knew was coming, Castiel had told told him yesterday after all.   
  


“Hey man,” he said as Castiel walked in. Sam was just sitting on his bed reading a book for his lit class. Castiel noticed him and nodded, he looked exhausted.   
  


“Hello Sam, Dean told me that you asked Jessica out. Congratulations, I know you were nervous about it.” Castiel said as he put his coat away and changed shirts.   
  


“Heh, yeah it went well.” Sam thought for a moment, something didn’t add up.   
“Wait, I thought you were going to a friend’s place last night? Do you have Dean’s phone number or something? Which would be totally fine, you guys can be friends or whatever, that goes without saying I was just curious I guess cause he never tells me anything, and I’m rambling.” Sam kept stumbling out words before he could even stop himself.   
  


“Sam it’s alright that you’re curious, I’m not offended. Dean apparently lives next door to my friend, they’re acquaintances. She offered to Dean to watch tv with us. We both stayed the night there.” Castiel explained calmly.   
  


“Oh, cool cool.” Sam went back to his work with no more questions.   
  


A few weeks had passed. Sam and Jess had gone on a few dates at this point, it was going really well from what Sam could tell. Though he didn’t really have much experience.   
  


Dean seemed to think it was going well, though he’s also not the best person to ask about romantic relationships. The man has only dated like two people, though Sam was almost certain there was a third Dean didn’t tell him about.   
  


But Dean and Jess had met, and besides Dean being vaguely annoying, it went really well. He approved of her, not that Sam needed his approval or anything, but it didn’t hurt. And Jess seemed to like Dean as well. Though she seemed to get along with everyone she met. 

The two of them were sitting together in Sam’s bed, technically they were studying, but mostly they were staring at the pages trying to study. They kept getting distracted by each other, continually stealing glances and grazing finger tips.   
  


Sam was reading a particularly boring sentence when the light filtering from the barely open window hit her hair in such a beautiful way he couldn’t help himself from watching. Her slightly curled blonde hair seemed to gleam golden. It was shimmering and bright. Sam could’ve sworn it was woven silk.   
  


“Sam?” She asked after a minute.   
“Huh? Sorry what?” He said after realizing he had been asked something.   
“Are you okay?” She turned her head and the sunlight moved to her eyes. They were glimmering now. She had blue eyes, but with the sun glinting in them made them look greenish.   
  


“Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m just distracted, not your fault.” He could feel himself flushing, he usually would avert his eyes to keep from embarrassing himself further. But he thought he might as well take her in as much as he could.   
  


The room was cozy, the sun had started going down so the room was lit up with the glorious streams of yellow and orange. The fall wasn’t too cold here, or at least not yet. Sam wished he could’ve had more moments of peace like this growing up.   
  
The different places his family had stayed growing up were all dark. They stayed in hotels, motels, army assigned houses, apartments, and even a trailer for a year. They were all empty and dark. The only piece of light was Dean, when he on occasion let Sam do something fun while Dad was gone.   
  


But for the most part, his childhood was cold. In every meaning of the word. 

“Sam, you’re an idiot. A cute idiot.” Sam tilted his head confused. “You don’t have to be embarrassed Sam, you distract me too.” He smiles and they share a kiss. It isn’t long, it isn’t full of passion, just happiness.   
  


“Hey Jess,” he says afterwards.   
“Hey Sam,” she jokes back.   
“Heh, Um. Do you want to be my girlfriend, like officially?”   
“Yeah of course! Oh geez I sounded too excited...” she blushed and hid her face in his shoulder.   
  
“No! Excited is good. I’m excited too.” She smiled like Sam was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. He was almost wonderstruck that he was able to make someone feel that way. He hoped his face read the same to her. Because she is the most beautiful person he’s ever seen. He wanted to engrave this moment in his head and keep it forever. 

They laughed together for a few minutes, not caring about their school work just for today. They could always do their work later they reasoned. They were both unreasonably good bullshitting their projects, Sam from experience, Jess from luck.   
  
It was one of the things that drew him to her, how similar they were. He’d never met someone he related to. He was always the weird kid, out of place. Dean was the cool one, and Sam was weird and out of place.   
  


He was teased every school he went to. For whatever reason. He was too small, too smart, too quiet, too weird looking, his hair was too long, his brother was too loud. And everyone knew that his brother got all those bruises from somewhere. But Sam was always bruise free.   
  


He’s never found a place where people just let him exist next to them, let alone accept him.

He wasn’t out of place here. In California, in Standford, in this room, in Jess’s arms. 

Castiel entered their room, trying not to interrupt the two of them.   
  


“Hey Castiel!” Jess said once she noticed him. He waved at the two of them.   
“Hello Jess, Sam, how are you?” He asked politely. Sam has really never seem Jim be impolite to Dean. That’s a whole thing.   
  
Sam hasn’t seen the two of them interact all that much, but when he does he sees a different side to both of them. Castiel is more sarcastic around Dean and Dean is... well he’s happier around Castiel. Sam attributes it to a new place, new friends, and not being around their father anymore. 

“We’re great! How are you Cas? Sorry, can I call you Cas?” She asked.

“Go ahead, I’m quite fond of it now. I’m having a fine day, I’m supposed to go over to Charlie’s again today.”   
  
“Charlie, she’s your best friend right?” Jess asked him. The two of them had grown close over the past couple weeks, since Jess had been in and out of the room often.   
  


“Yes, we’ve been Marathoning Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel with Dean these past couple weeks.” Cas says as he packs an overnight bag.   
  


“Oh Dean loves that show.” Sam says.

“Yes it’s a favorite of all of us. I believe today we are playing a drinking game to Season two of Angel, there’s a rough patch in there.” He chuckles to himself as if only he knew what he was thinking.   
  


“I should be on my way over there now. I’m already late, my classes went over.”   
Cas finished explaining before he left.   
  


Sam and Jess continued to not do any work that day.  
  
  


Dean headed over to Charlie’s after work, only stopping at his own place to take a quick shower. 

He’s been spending almost every night over at Charlie’s, usually only if Cas is around though. That’s when they watch their show, though sometimes Cas goes over there and the two of them just talk.   
  


Dean is providing the alcohol for the night, which is mostly just beer, but he made sure to grab some tequila as well.   
  


“Hey Charles, what’s cracking?” Dean said as he entered Charlie’s apartment. She had yelled for him to enter, she was in the other room.   
  


“I haven’t drank in so long. I try not to drink when I’m sad so obviously it’s been some time.” Charlie says as she sits down on the couch. She has a thing of salt and a couple limes. Good, she got the memo about shots, Dean thought.   
  


“You sure you’re feeling up to it tonight? We can always do it another time.” Dean offered her. She swatted him away.   
“No it’s been weeks! I’m still sad but it’s more like a background thing now. Like I’m only sad if I think about it, and not everything reminds me of her.” She trailed off.   
  


Dean had only heard bits and pieces of what had happened with Charlie and her ex. From what he could gather though, they met about two years ago and kind of dived into dating pretty fast. They had then moved in after only a year of dating. It seemed to move way faster that Dean could understand, but he was also aware he wasn’t exactly a romantic. 

“That’s good progress there Charles.” He pats her on the shoulder. She rolls her eyes and punches him in the arm.   
  


“What about you though? You haven’t told me anything about any lucky person, but I’ve certainly heard something through these walls.” She jokes, Dean almost blushes from embarrassment. He hadn’t even slept with as many people as he usually would, but it’s still embarrassing she could hear them.   
  


“Nah, those are just one time things. They know that too, so we’re all good there.” Dean explains. He always feels like he has to explain that the women he sleeps with are aware it’s a one time thing. He doesn’t want people assuming he goes around breaking people’s hearts. He never would intentionally hurt someone like that.   
  


“So you haven’t met anyone you like?” She asks. Dean thinks about it for a moment. Deep down he feels like there’s someone, on the tip of his tongue. He knows the feeling of contentedness he’s been feeling lately, it’s one he gets when he’s around someone he likes a lot. But he can’t figure out who it’s related to. Or if it even is attached to a romantic feeling. It could just be happiness with his job, or living alone, or his friends. He’d never had any of those before, so maybe they have the same feeling.   
  


“Nah, no one special.” He decides. If he tells anyone he has to be sure first. And right now he isn’t even sure what he’d be telling them.   
  


“Say, where’s Cas? He’s never late” Charlie mentions, looking at her phone.   
  


“Uhm, I’m not sure. You get a text from him?”   
“No, you?”   
“Nada.”   
  


“Probably just class or slow walkers. He hates being behind slow people.” Dean chuckles with her, they’ve both heard his annoyed asides about how annoying slow walkers are. 

Cas has a whole thing with punctuality and whenever he’s late it bothers him to no end. Dean finds it almost endearing though.

“What a dorky little guy,” Dean continues to chuckle. Charlie just smiles at him, probably just glad that they’re all becoming friends, Dean thought. 

“I apologize for my tardiness, my class ran over time. Plus there was this group of drunk students walking in front of me, I swear they walked so slowly.” Cas grumbled as he walked into Charlie’s apartment without knocking. Dean and Charlie look at each other and try not to laugh at him.   
  


Cas sits down in his signature seat on the opposite side of the couch. He takes his shoes and coat off and puts them neatly beside him.   
  


“Okay, here’s the name of the game. We drink anytime Angel makes a bad decision, anytime we’re annoyed by Darla, whenever our favorite character says something stupid, If Cordelia gets a vision, and if the bad guy of the episode is a vampire.” Dean rattles off.   
“Oh also during the theme song.” Charlie adds.   
  
“Is this a good idea?” Cas asks them, they shrug and start the show.   
  


“Oh, Are either of you sloppy drunks? I feel like that’s important to know. Cause then we should put all our phones away somewhere...” Dean says.   
  


“I’m a happy drunk, and Cas can’t get drunk.” Charlie says, Cas nods.   
  


“What? What do you mean?” Dean asks.   
“I just have a high tolerance I guess.” Cas says.   
“Oh, yeah me too.”   
  


Dean had his first drink when he was ten. John though it was a good birthday present or something. Though Dean was pretty sure he’d just forgotten the birthday all together and just found a beer and decided to give it to him instead.   
  
He’d been a steady drinker since he was sixteen. He and some shit to figure out but he didn’t want to, so he drank. He’s since then developed a strong tolerance, he almost never gets drunk unless it’s on purpose. 

“Not like Cas you don’t, man never gets past tipsy by the time I pass out.” Charlie tells Dean. Cas smiles to himself.   
  


“I guess we’ll see then.” Dean locks eyes with Cas, neither look away. Charlie has to start the show herself.   
  
Dean is determined to stay awake longer than Cas. A man who wears a dress shirt and slacks will not beat him in a drinking contest. 

Several hours later and Charlie is pretty wrecked. They did end up putting their phones in a kitchen cabinet. They decided after Charlie tried to call her ex, not Gilda though, the one before Gilda. Her name was Amber, they dated for like a month. Rough conversation that was.   
  


Cas and Dean had drank about the same as Charlie but were still pretty functional. Cas noticed that Dean wasn’t sitting as straight as usual, probably doesn’t have much control over his muscles. He also shed his flannel, leaving just a t shirt on.

“So how you feeling Cas?” Dean asked him. Cas slowly looked over to Dean.   
  


“Not too bad, worse than usual though.” He explained. Dean laughed, then couldn’t stop laughing. This led to Charlie giggling her ass off, which led to Cas chuckling.   
  


“Whoa Cas! I’ve never heard you laugh like that!” Dean exclaims, his eyes wide and bright. Cas just shrugs. He supposes he doesn’t laugh that much, but he never took note of it.   
  


Charlie turns the tv off.   
“Okay enough of this, now for the fun part.” She looked at them both intensely.   
  


Castiel was confused, he thought the drinking was the fun part. He tilted his head to the side in confusion.   
  


“Drunk truth or dare! It’s so much more fun when you’re drunk off your asses! Though you guys are still pretty sober.” She grins so wide, anyone could tell she was drunk just from looking at her.   
  


“Wait, so... explain again.” Dean said to her, clearly confused.   
“Okay, three options. Truth or dare, and if you don’t answer or don’t do the dare, you have to drink. Another reason to play after you’re already drunk, if you don’t play you might pass out.” She slapped her legs in excitement.   
  


Cas and Dean looked and each other with a ‘why not?’ Look. They both shrugged and agreed.   
  


“Okay Dean, truth or dare?” Charlie asked him.   
“Dare, while I’m still awake.”   
“Stand up and spin in a circle five times.”   
“That sounds awful, but okay fine.” Dean stands and spins fast three times and slower the next, and slower the next. He almost falls over but manages to keep his footing.   
  


“Okay Cas, truth or dare.”   
“I suppose I do dare.”   
“Uh okay take two more shots.” Dean instructs. Cas shrugs and does so. Making sure to line up the salt before and bite down on the lime wedge afterwards. Sometimes he forgets. He makes a face of disgust, he’s not sure why people like drinking so much.   
  


“Charlie, truth or dare?”   
“I’m in no position for a dare, so truth.”   
“Alright, before you were out did you ever date a guy?” He asked her, it was a question he got pretty often himself as a gay man.   
“Nope! I kissed a guy on the cheek in seventh grade and that’s it. I knew pretty much my whole life that I was only into women.”   
  


“Deano, truth or dare?”

“Truth, my head is still spinning.” He chokes out a laugh.   
“Alrighty, umm what’s your body count?” Charlie asks him. Cas can’t help but shift awkwardly.   
“Oh geez, give me a second to count.” He proceeds to mouth names that Cas can’t read. “I believe it’s in the thirties, but I can’t pinpoint an exact number.” Charlie whistles in amazement.   
  


“Cas you’re up.”   
“Oh right, I’ll do truth as well.”   
“Okay I’m stealing yours, were you ever with a girl before you came out? Or before you knew?” Dean slurred out.   
  


“Yeah, a couple actually. I believe three women.” Cas told them both, Charlie already knew about one of them.   
  


“Wait who’s the other?” Charlie asked him. Cas rolled his eyes. “Come on Cas!”   
  


“Fine, well you know I dated Meg for a while.” Dean looks surprised, he’s heard stories of Meg but only in relation of them being friends, which they are now. Meg was very kind when he came out.   
“And you remember my girlfriend Daphne.” Charlie nods.   
  


“And I had a one time hook up with a woman named April, it was a while ago.” He remembers April almost fondly. It was his first time with anyone, and he was incredible nervous. He was eighteen at the time, which he’s aware is considered late nowadays, but he grew up sheltered. April was nice and they had a good time, but she kind of kicked him out the next morning, rudely.   
  


“Truth or dare” he directed at Charlie.   
“Truth”

“What’s the stupidest thing you did in high school?”  
“I went to a party in junior year and got so high I slept with a girl that was super homophobic towards me in previous years. She came out a month later.” She laughed to herself. Dean laughed along. 

“Sounds like you helped her figure some shit out.” He said to her, she laughed more. “Hahaha, yeah I guess I did.”   
  


“Truth or dare!” She pointed at Dean.   
“I’ll do truth again.”   
“We’ve heard your body count, now what’s your relationship count?” She raised her eyebrows like a cartoon detective.   
“Oh geez, way lower. Three.” Charlie and Cas both looked a little surprised. Charlie expected more and Cas expected less.   
  


“Okay, names? How serious were they? How old were you?” Charlie listed off, suddenly very interested.   
  


“Geez okay fine. Cassie, Lisa and uh, Lee.” Dean sounded hesitant on the last one. 

“Okay tell us about Cassie, Lisa, and Kaylee.” Charlie prompted him more. Dean seemed to shift slightly, like he wanted an out. Cas noticed the change in name, but Dean didn’t correct her. Maybe Lee was a nickname.   
  


“Okay but briefly. Cassie was my first actual girlfriend, we dated for about five months before I moved away. We were about sixteen. Then Lisa was just a couple years ago, we dated about a year, but it was kind of difficult cause she had a kid. Loved that kid, little three year old named Ben. We were both twenty I think.”   
“And Kaylee?”   
“Huh? Oh right, um. Kaylee and I dated for about seven months, we were good friends first. I was like eighteen at the time, maybe seventeen. That one was complicated.” Dean slurred.   
  


“Why was it complicated?” Cas asked, they both looked at him, he hadn’t spoken in a while.   
  


“My dad hated Lee, absolutely hated. Made me break it off.” Dean looked down at his shoes. Cas noted how he referred to them as Lee, but didn’t correct Charlie when she heard Kaylee.   
  


“Anywho, Cas it’s you.”   
“Dare.”   
“Okay tough guy, can you order us dinner or something? I don’t think beer and tequila counts as a protein.” Cas laughed and nodded. He slowly stood up, took a moment to get his bearings, and called the nearby pizza place.   
  


“What do you guys wants?” He asked them.   
“Just pepperoni is fine,” Charlie shouted.   
“Sounds good with me.” Dean agreed. Cas looked at the clock, it was about ten thirty, they should still be delivering.   
  


About twenty minutes later the food arrived and they were all stuffing their faces. Cas also got everyone a glass of water, he was certain they all needed it.

“Okay let’s switch it up. Go the other way now!” Charlie said. They both agreed and Dean finished his bite so he could ask.   
  


“Okay truth or dare Charlie.”   
“Dare,” she seems to feel better after eating something.   
“What’s the craziest thing you’ve done?”   
“Huh, I gotta say the time I tricked my way into a club by flirting with the bouncer. Guy was ginormous and here I was, tiny little gay red head, who just snuck in. It was a high class club too, and I was seventeen.” Dean nodded in approval, Cas shook his head in amusement.   
  


“Okay Cassie truth or dare.”   
“Truth.”   
“What’s your body count?” She asked him. Cas was fairly certain she knew, but it seemed only fair since she had asked Dean the same. Though Cas and Dean had wildly different answers. 

“Seven.” Cas Said, he tried not to be embarrassed but he knew his was the lowest there. 

“There’s new additions I see,” Charlie notes. Cas rolls his eyes and moves on before she can ask too much.   
  


“Dean truth or dare.”   
“Dare.”

“Drink this entire thing of water. Then fill it up and drink it again.” Castiel scooted a full glass towards him. He hadn’t had any since Cas has served them. Dean rolled his eyes.   
“Fine, mom.” He did the dare slowly, as not to upset his stomach.   
  


“Charles?”   
“Truth!”   
“I feel like it’s only fair, what’s the number?” Charlie smiled and also counted on her fingers.   
“Twenty exactly.”   
  
“Cas truth or dare?”   
“Truth” 

“Name all your relationships, just relationships not one time things.” Charlie said. Cas thought it only fair so he didn’t mind too much.   
  


“Meg, Daphne, Benjamin, and Jimmy.” Cas was about to move on before Dean stopped him.   
“Whoa whoa whoa, I had to go into details so do you. Lay it out there buddy.” Dean gestured to the table with his hand.   
  


“I hate you.” Dean chuckled and crossed his arms. Cas wasn’t one to talk about his relationships, he’s a private guy. But he weirdly trusted Dean. 

“Daphne was my first girlfriend, first year of college, broke up cause I’m gay. Meg and I dated second year of college, and again broke up cause I’m gay. Then Benjamin we dated also Sophomore year, only for a few months. We were just better off as friends. My most serious relationship was a year long with Jimmy, he and I got close and I even met his family.” Dean could read Cas well enough to not make a joke.   
  


“Why’d you guys break up?” He asked kind of softly.   
“He signed up for the army actually. We broke up for several reasons but that was the main one.” He nodded and so did Dean. Charlie gave him a supportive smile and Cas thought it was time to move on.   
  


“Dean?”   
“Truth.”

“Uhm,” 

“I got one!” Charlie says, raising her hand in the air like she were in class.   
  


“Okay Charlie gets to pick.” Cas says, Dean nods.   
  


“You ever been with a guy?” Dean lifts his eyebrows in surprise. Charlie shrugs. Dean looks at both of them individually as if to see if he could trust them.   
  


“Uh, yeah. Couple times actually.” He didn’t offer up anything else and none of us pushed him to share. Cas wasn’t sure what he was feeling in his stomach, maybe he was getting drunk.   
  


Dean asked Charlie a question when Charlie got bored.   
  


“Okay it’s too early to sleep, so Never have I ever!” She exclaims. Dean rolls his eyes. 

“Truth or dare and now Never have I ever? What are we? High schoolers?” Charlie gives him a huge smile and he gives in. No one can say no to her when she looks happy enough.   
  


“Okay but no more drinking for me, I’m good with just the finger version. I’m too wrecked.” Charlie clarifies.   
Dean and Cas have a silent agreement to keep drinking. Cas knows he’ll win, but he supposed Dean thinks the same.   
  


“Let’s skip the format though, gets repetitive.” Charlie starts. “Fucked a boy.”   
Cas and Dean drink.   
  


“Slept with a friend’s sibling” Dean said and Charlie put a finger down. Cas rolled his eyes at her, he didn’t want to know.   
  


“Slept with someone younger than me.” Charlie put a finger down and Dean drank.   
  


“Given a blow job” Charlie laughed. Cas hit her leg, “You can’t target me!” She laughed harder and flipped him off.   
“It’s not targeting if it hits two people,” he says before sipping his drink. Cas’s jaw drops slightly before closing it. Charlie holds her hand out to high five and Dean bashfully hits her hand with his.   
  


“Slept with a lesbian woman.” Cas glares at Charlie. She puts a finger down and rolls her eyes.   
  


“Smoked weed.” Dean said. Charlie put a finger down and Cas drank.   
“Wait wait wait, Cas you’ve smoked?” Dean laughed for a minute straight. Charlie and Cas just looked at each other amused. 

Cas was pretty confused on why this was such a surprise to Dean. Cas was stressed pretty much all the time, every once in a while he needed to relax. It’s perfectly normal. 

Dean’s laughing slowed enough that he managed to say “So you haven’t always had this stick up your ass?” He says between laughs. Cas’s jaw drops and he actually laughs. Then he stands up and hits Dean where he sits on the floor.   
  


“I’ve drank more than you, asshole.” He grumbled before sitting down on the other side of the coffee table, on the floor. Dean continues to chuckle for a little while after, probably imagining Cas being high.   
  


“Anyway,” Charlie starts, “Gone past fifth base.”   
“Charlie!” Cas says as he choked on his sip of beer. He spills some down his shirt and attempts to wipe it off with a pizza store napkin.   
  


“What? I haven’t! And I’m pretty sure at least one of you has.”   
  


“Jesus” Cas continues to grumble under his breath. His nice white button down is now all wet. Great, he thought. He packed and over night bag, but it only had pajama pants, a change or underwear, and his toothbrush. He usually just wore this to bed when he was at Charlie’s.   
  


“Hey Cas, want a shirt to borrow?” Dean asks while nodding at the mess that was his shirt. Cas looks up, judging the sincerity of Dean’s words.   
  


“Yes, thank you. I’m afraid I’ve made a bit of a mess.” Dean chuckles and grabs his keys from his jacket pocket before heading out to his room. He stumbles around a bit, he’s obviously more drunk than he’s letting on.   
  


“Fifth base? Really Charlie?” He asked exasperated. She just laughed at him.   
  


“You know what they say: if you can’t say it, you shouldn’t do it.” Cas hits her leg. She laughs and gets up to throw away the empty pizza box and recycle the empty beer bottles.   
  
Cas can hear Dean struggling with his keys in his door, Cas almost smiled at that. 

Dean re-enters the room with a band t shirt. Cas has seen Dean wearing it before, it had Led Zeppelin written on it. Cas was almost certain that was Dean’s favorite band.   
  


“Here you go buddy,” Dean tosses the shirt at Cas and walks to help Charlie with the bottles. Cas stands up to put it on. He starts unbuttoning his shirt right there, he doesn’t mind anyone seeing after all. He and Charlie had been to the beach many times after all, and it’s not like Dean doesn’t know what a chest looks like.   
  


He pulled the shirt off and folded it neatly in his bag before picking up Dean’s shirt.   
  


“Whoa, Cas.” Dean says from across the room. Cas starts to put the shirt on faster, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.   
  


“Stop stop, who knew you had abs dude!” Dean walks around the couch to where Cas was. Dean lifts pulls up the bottom of the t shirt to see Castiel’s stomach. Cas is almost certain sober Dean wouldn’t do this. He didn’t really mind though.   
  


“Why is that so surprising?” Cas asked, sounding offended. Dean poked his stomach as if to see how strong he was. Cas wasn’t flexing at the moment so it hurt.   
“Ow” 

“Sorry. Wait, flex real quick.” Cas does so and Dean jabs him again. This time only meeting muscle.   
  


“You can stop now,” Cas says annoyed. Dean chuckles and lets the shirt fall.   
  


“You work out?” Dean asks him, Cas nods once. “Huh.”   
“You seem surprised?”   
“I don’t know, I guess I just imagine you as this little nerdy guy. Didn’t think that you could probably beat someone up.” Dean says, pushing Cas’s shoulder a little. Cas smiles and rolls his eyes.   
  
“I’m not sure where you got that idea from, Dean.” He said, trying to entice Dean into one of their playful arguments.

”Hm, maybe the fact that you’re a religion major at one of the best schools in the country.”   
“So smart people can’t be tough as well?” He smiles while saying this, he’s quite enjoying this.   
“No, never.” Dean smiles back at him.   
“I bet I could take you in a fight Dean.” He stands just a pinch closer than before, he can see the way Dean’s Adam apple quivers.   
  


“I’d like to see you try, feathers.”   
“Feathers?”   
“Yeah, your tattoo.” Cas didn’t realize Dean had seen the tattoo. He didn’t mind too much though. 

“I think we should all get to bed.” Charlie says, walking back from the kitchen. “Or at least I should.” They say their good nights to her and she freshens up before going to her room.

Cas finishes cleaning up, since he is most clear minded right now. He turns all the lights off, so the room is only illuminated by the moonlight. It barely appears in the room, just peaking through the curtains that were haphazardly closed. 

The clinking of all the beer bottles in the recycling bag is the only thing keeping him awake. He was still mostly in control right now, but he could feel his limbs get heavy. 

They both brush their teeth and head into the living room. Dean goes first, he was barely awake. It seemed that once the lights went out they lost all their energy.   
  


Cas changed his slacks to pajama pants, simple black pants, no pattern on them. He looked in the mirror briefly. He was wearing Dean’s shirt. It was worn and old but it smelled like Dean so he didn’t mind.   
  


Cas was suddenly curious about his tattoo again. He wasn’t one to look at it too often. He slowly lifted his shirt off to glance in the mirror. It was just a small tattoo of Angel wings over his shoulder blades. He got them when he was twenty. They aren’t huge or spectacular. Just detailed beyond what he could understand.   
  


It hurt like hell, but it was worth it. -Tiel means of god, many Angel names included this suffix. So he had the name of an Angel, but his family treated him like the devil himself. He figured both had Angel wings, so why not?

They were thick and black, with highlights of rainbow, just to stick it to his family again. Not that any of them had seen this. Being devout Christians, they were opposed to tattoos.   
  
This was his own victory, his own body that he owned and loved. And he wasn’t going to let anyone tell him how to live his life anymore. 

He slipped the shirt back on and entered the living room. It was almost completely engulfed in darkness. Cas had been there a million times but in his less than perfect state of mind, he stumbled around quite a bit. Running into tables and walls. 

“Hey Cas?” Dean asks from the couch.   
“Yes Dean?” He answers, sitting next to him. He liked sitting with Dean. He’d never been friends with men. Not really at least. He found most of them obnoxious. Dean was kind of obnoxious, but he was mostly sweet. He just hid that part of himself. Cas could see it though.   
  


“Don’t tell Sammy.” Dean says quietly, he’s about to fall asleep. Cas pulls a blanket over Dean, and another over himself. He knows Dean’s protective, but he wondered if anyone had ever protected him.   
  


“Don’t tell him what?” Cas is pretty sure he already knows.   
  


“That I’m... That I’ve slept with guys. I’m still figuring things out and I wanna be the one to tell him when I have sorted things through.” Cas hums like he’s content, he can feel the buzz of alcohol consume him.   
“I would never do that Dean. That’s yours to tell. But if it helps, I’m sure Sam would be supportive.” Dean scoots closer so he can put his head on Cas’s shoulder.   
  


“Yeah I know. He’d be great. He probably already knows. My dad knew.” Dean mumbled. The warmth of Dean’s body moved to Cas’s. He didn’t mind though. He was almost always cold, he wasn’t now.   
  


“He’d be proud of you anyway, that you were able to tell him yourself.” Dean moves his arm to squeeze Cas’s.   
  


“Heh, yeah he’s a sweet kid.” Cas wanted to ask about their dad, but he knew it was a touchy subject. Plus, he was getting close to sleep as well.   
  


“My dad knew because of Lee.” Dean murmured again. Cas smiled slightly to himself, Dean was almost endearing when drunk.   
  


“Your First boyfriend?” Dean hums in agreement.   
“Lee was stupid, and cute. It’s honestly his fault.”   
“What is?”   
“Everything. Dad found out, and he almost killed me. I knew that if I wanted to protect Sammy from anything like that then I’d have to get him out. So I dropped out and I got him out. Four years too late though. He never stopped trying to hurt us.”

Dean probably wasn’t even aware of what he was saying. It was a mix of alcohol and exhaustion. He’d worked every day this week, and even a double yesterday. Cas’s stomach was filling with rage towards a certain shit father, but he pushed it down. Dean didn’t need that now. 

“It sounds like you saved your brother.” Cas said. Dean’s grip on Cas’s forearm tighten a bit.   
“I hope so Cas.”   
  


That’s all he said. The words he spoke were eaten by the night like they had never existed. Even though Cas had seen it happen, he wasn’t sure if it was all real.

The quietness of the night outside soothed Cas to peace, though his heart rate wasn’t close to resting. 

Dean fell asleep. Cas could tell by the slowing of his breathing, and the way his hand slowly loosened his grip on his arm. It stayed there though, his fingertips still against his forearm. 

He tried not to move too much, he didn’t want to wake Dean up. But he took a deep breath. So many things in his life have led to him being who he currently is. Should he be thankful for all the bad things that have happened? They all made him, him. Maybe that doesn’t justify evil. Maybe it does.   
  
Maybe that can be solved another day. 


	4. Chapter 4

Castiel walked home the next morning. It was a bit chilly at eight am, but he found it refreshing. The night was warm and comforting, a stark contrast to the now windy and bright morning.   
  


Dean had made Charlie and Cas a quick breakfast before he had to run to work. Cas woke up alone on the couch, with Dean in the kitchen. Not his ideal start to a morning, but at least he was still there. Charlie had an class at nine, and Cas had one at ten.   
  


When he got to his room Jess was on her way out. They bumped into each other in the hallway.   
  


“Oh sorry Cas!” Jess said in surprise.   
“No it was my fault,” Castiel offered to her. She smiled kindly at him. Castiel thought that she was very beautiful, and she was a very nice woman. He hoped that Sam was treating her well, though she would most likely not stand any bad treatment, she was tough like that. He doubted Sam would be though, he’s a polite young man.   
  


“Hey nice shirt! I love Led Zeppelin!” She said pointing at Dean’s shirt. Dean hadn’t asked for it back, and Castiel honestly forgot he was wearing it. He looked down at it, like he was surprised that other people could see it. It was a long night, part of him wasn’t sure what parts were real.   
  


“Oh, thank you. It’s not actually mine, Dean lent it to me.” He pinched the end of the shirt between his fingers, like he was testing the quality of the cloth. Jess gave him a knowing smile, though Cas wasn’t sure what it was she was smiling about.   
  


“Well it suits you.” She continues to smile at him with a glimmer in her eyes. “I have to go, it was good seeing you again.” She waved and walked off. Castiel stood in the hallway confused for a moment before going back to his room.   
  


“Good Morning Sam,” he greeted as he walked in. Sam barely looked up, he was getting his books and laptop into his bag. His class was in about fifteen minutes, he was already late. Sam waved quickly, but then did a double take as he noticed Cas.   
  


“Uh hey Cas.” He greeted him back. Cas was putting his stuff away that he had taken with him.   
  


“What’re you doing today?” Sam asked him.   
“I have two classes, then a meeting with one of my professors. Then I think I will be studying with Hannah between classes and the meeting.” Castiel informed him. Sam nodded along, Castiel gave him a look that asked the same question.   
“I have my class in about twelve minutes, then another class, then a study group with some other pre law students.” Castiel nodded and took his coat off, hanging it off the end of the bed.   
  


“I have to go, I’ll see you around.” Sam starts to exit the room, but stops while opening the door. “Oh, tell Dean I said hi.” He smirks while pointing at Castiel’s shirt, then leaves before Cas can say anything.   
  


“I am not sleeping with Dean Winchester.” Castiel grumbled to himself. He knew what Jess and Sam thought, and maybe even Charlie. He and Dean were simply friends, neither of them would want anything more.   
  


Right? Neither of them thought of each other that way? He was almost certain of it. But why only almost? He laid down in his bed, staring at the ceiling.   
  


He was happy to be friends with Dean. He almost never was friends with men, but Dean was kind, protective, funny, and kind of gave him a hard time. He had this weird obsession with cowboys and old westerns, which Castiel almost adored about him. He loved food, especially pie. Castiel could listen to him talk about whatever for as long as Dean wanted.   
  


But that was all normal with friends. He loved talking to Charlie too, and he adored many of her traits. He just isn’t used to being friends with the gender he was attracted to. That’s all it was.   
  


He was going through the motions for most of the day. He put deodorant on, brushed his teeth, changed his pants and underwear, walked to class, took notes, waited for Hannah after class. It was like he was wired to do things in this order, he wasn’t doing most of it of his own choice. 

He knew what was happening but didn’t do it on purpose. Like part of his brain was put on autopilot, but the other part wasn’t even aware.   
  


“Castiel! You ready?” Hannah asked when she met up with him after class. Castiel snapped from his thoughts and nodded with a smile.   
“Yes, let’s get to studying. The portfolio is due in what? Three days?” He asked her as they started walking towards their favorite coffee shop.   
“Yes, I have it almost finished I believe. Where are you with it?”   
“I think I just have the essay left, and maybe finalizing the last project.” They entered the coffee shop and ordered their own drinks and lunches.   
  


“I’ll grab us some seats, will you get our orders?” Hannah offered Castiel, he nodded and they moved to separate. 

“Order for Hannah?” The barista called out a few minutes later. Castiel got their order and walked over to their table.   
  


“So what is your essay going to be on?” Hannah asked him as they opened up their laptops.   
“Right now I’m thinking the way that Christianity and Islam have spread across Africa in their own respective ways. I’d like to explore their respective methods of religious conversion.” Hannah nodded along and they talked for a few more minutes on the topic of her essay.   
  


About an hour later Castiel is long finished with his lunch but still sipping on his coffee so the cafe won’t make them leave. Hannah and him haven’t had many conversations while working, but they everyone once in a while will ask each other questions.   
  


He and her had gotten along much better since Dean told her they were dating. It seemed to get through to her that he wasn’t interested in her. And now they were friends with out any weirdness. She even asked about Dean every once in a while, out of politeness. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that they weren’t actually dating. He’d probably pretend to have a break up in a month or two, by then she’ll get the idea.   
  


“Oh Castiel, your boyfriend is here! Dean!” Hannah called from her seat, waving to someone behind Castiel.   
  


He turned around to see Dean entering the shop. He was wearing a black t shirt with worn out jeans, his usually work attire. Speaking of work, he was supposed to be there right now.   
  


“Cas! I didn’t know you were here! And it’s good to see you again Hannah.” Dean walked over to them and pulled over a chair from an empty table.   
“Dean, aren’t you supposed to be at work?” Castiel asked with his worried voice. Dean rolled his eyes with a smile.   
“I’m on my lunch break.” He picked up Castiel’s drink and took a sip, obviously not caring for germs. It made Castiel feel almost proud that he wasn’t worried about doing so.   
  


“Where do you work?” Hannah asks him.

“The auto shop around the corner. We have great deals if you ever need work done on your vehicle.” He shamelessly advertised, she laughed at his charm.   
“I don’t actually own a car, I just walk everywhere.”   
“Heh, sounds like Cas here.” Dean says and puts his hand on Cas’s shoulder. Dean’s eyes then went down to Castiel’s shirt.   
  


“Hey you’re still wearing my shirt.” He notices with a smile. Cas looks down, he keeps forgetting about it.   
“Oh, I honestly forgot.” Dean laughs at him and squeezes his shoulder.   
“I expect that back by the way, I love that shirt.” Dean takes his hand away and points warningly at him. Cas chuckles and nods.   
  


“I should order, I’ll be back.” Dean says, standing up from the table.   
  


“How long have you guys been together?” Hannah asks him. Cas forgot for just a moment that they were supposed to be dating.   
“Three months.” He spit out with no thought. He’d known Dean for about two months, so he could stretch another month in there. 

“You guys are sweet together, from what I can see.” She gives a genuine smile to him and he returns it.   
“Thank you, it’s been going well.” He says, and he’s not even putting on a fake smile anymore. They continue to work on their portfolios as Dean waits for his food.   
  


“Can you read this last paragraph for me?” Hannah asked him after a couple minutes. He nodded and they switched computers. He scanned the paragraph quickly, noting the sophisticated way she had of writing.   
  


“I’d include more about the how that point connects to your thesis, but that could be done in a sentence or two. Besides that it’s wonderfully worded.” He says before handing it back. They often would read through each other’s work before turning anything in.   
  


“Whatcha guys working on?” Dean asked as he sat down. Castiel started explaining their projects and Dean listened while eating his fries.   
  


“I didn’t understand most of that, but sounds interesting.”

“It’s very interesting. But I won’t bore you with the details.” Castiel says before finishing his paragraph.   
“You won’t bore me, I like hearing about it.” Dean tells him, and Cas looks at him surprised. He didn’t think Dean would care about his ‘nerdy’ interests.   
“What?” He asks when Cas doesn’t explain his confused expression.   
“I just didn’t think you’d care. My apologies.”   
“Of course I care Cas, this is your major.” He doesn’t sound offended at least. Cas smiles a bit before returning to his assignment. Hannah looks between them subtly but doesn’t say anything.   
  


Cas continues to work, and he steals a fry from Dean occasionally. Dean scoots his chair to Cas’s side of the table instead of the end so he can look at Cas’s essay. Cas doesn’t miss the way that Dean puts his arm behind Cas, placing his hand on the other side of Cas’s chair. Or the way he puts himself in Cas’s space with no problem.   
  


“Oh Castiel I have a class in ten, my apologies I forgot. I’ll see you tomorrow for the same?” Hannah says before packing her things up.   
“That’s alright, thank you for helping me.” Castiel tells her. She nods and thanks him as well before excusing herself.   
  


“Things between you seem better.” Dean notes once she’s out of the shop. Cas looks at him with a slight smile.   
“Thanks to you.”   
“Aw I’m glad I could help. Now, tell me about this,” He glances at Cas’s paper to find a word. “Diaspora, what’s that?” Cas shakes his head with a smile.   
“That would take a while Dean, maybe when we have more time.” Dean smiles and nods. He finishes up his lunch quickly, he’s always been a fast eater.   
  


“Alright, well I gotta get back to work. Are you coming by later today?” Dean asks, referring to Charlie’s place. 

“I believe Charlie has a study group tonight. She has a big test coming up.” Cas informs Dean as he cleans up his things. Dean’s face stops for a moment as if considering something. Cas could see the gears turning in his head.   
  


“Why don’t you come over to my place then? I can show you one of those westerns that you somehow haven’t seen.” Castiel’s heart seems to pick up without his permission. He smiles slightly, trying not to give away how exciting that would be to him.   
  


“Are we ever going to do something that doesn’t revolve around a tv?” He jokes and Dean scoffs.   
“We’re eating lunch together right now!” He fakes being offended. Cas rolls his eyes. 

“Unintentionally.”   
“You’re breaking my heart Cas,” Dean puts a hand to his left peck. 

“Dean your heart is closer to the center of your chest.” He takes Dean’s hand and moves it to where the heart is by sliding their hands together across his chest.   
  


He can barely feel Dean’s heartbeat through his hand. He notes how calloused Dean’s hands are, but he can also still feel old car grease along his fingers. They feel like they’ve been scrubbed with no avail. 

“What? No way! That’s not how people do it when doing the pledge of allegiance though?”

“I don’t know what to tell you.”   
“Everything I know is a lie.”   
“Mm not everything.” 

“So... Tombstone?” Dean said moving on. Castiel tilted his head. 

“The city?” 

“What? The movie you dork. That’s what we’re watching tonight.”   
“Oh I See. I’ll be there at eight.”   
“Alright huggybear, I’ll see you there.” He patted Cas on the shoulder before leaving.   
  


Castiel wasn’t sure where that nickname came from, but he didn’t mind it. He also didn’t mind anything about that lunch. It seemed so natural yet Hannah didn’t suspect that they were just friends. Maybe romantic partners are really just friends when in public.   
  
He liked being friends with Dean, it seemed almost easy. Not that being friends with Charlie was hard. Being friends with Meg was hard, but mostly because she’s a temperamental person. Charlie is a sweetheart, if a little stubborn.   
Sam is sort of hard to be friends with, he’s always busy. Castiel always feels like he’s annoying or distracting Sam. He is determined to be friends with him before the year ends though.   
  


But Castiel didn’t feel like he had to do anything besides be himself around Dean. Well sometimes he made him a bit nervous but not in a way that made Cas think he’d stop being friends with him. Especially after last night.   
  


Speaking of last night, Castiel was still buzzing. Not from the alcohol, though that did give him a nice headache this morning. He was referring to the things Dean had told him. He had already suspected that John beat them, this was just a confirmation. 

A well of fury built up in Castiel’s chest when he thought of it. Really about any parent hurting their children, but he’s never known a child of abuse like that. Dean and Sam are such amazing men and the idea of someone hurting them made Castiel’s blood boil. 

Castiel had a lot to think about.   
  
  


Sam was almost late to class. Emphasis on the almost. He slid into the classroom a minute before class started, which meant he had the honor of sitting in the last open seat. He hurriedly unpacked all of his things before the professor started talking.   
  


“Rough Morning?” A girl sitting next to him asked. She had long brown hair and bright brown eyes. Her voice was kind of sultry, low and a little rough.   
  


“No, just a late start.” Sam explained while the Professor was still finishing something up on his computer. Lucky for him this Prof didn’t look up from his computer until about two minutes after class technically started.   
  


“Sounds fun. I’m Meg, by the way.” She puts out her hand for him to shake. Sam looks at it quickly, then back to the Professor.   
“Come on, I’m not gonna bite.” She insists. He gives in and shakes her hand.   
“I’m Sam.”   
  


“Well it’s good to meet you, Sam.” She smiles around her words. Sam isn’t sure what to make of her yet. Seems nice enough, but most people do at first. The professor cleared his throat and stood up to start class. Meg’s attention was away from Sam, and he turned his head away as well.   
  


This class is two hours usually, but it always feels longer. Sam takes notes as well as he can, though he’s still not sure if he’s understanding everything correctly. At least he has his study group later. Hopefully someone there can help him out a bit. 

His second class of the day went smoother. He really likes his professor, she’s funny and actually seems to care about the students. So the two hours pass by without any issue. It’s an easy class, just a mandatory freshmen class. 

He’s still thinking about his first class though, there’s just a concept that isn’t sticking. 

He debated texting Dean. He is his usual go to whenever he’s confused. But he needs to move away from that now. Not that he was supposed to completely stop all communication with Dean, but maybe lean away from completely depending on him. That’ll take a while though.   
  


Dean was his older brother, and his life long defender. He was both Sam’s mother, father, and brother. It was a lot on him. Maybe if Dean would appreciate some space away from his kid brother.   
  


But Sam desperately wants to tease him for giving Castiel his favorite t shirt. Maybe one phone call will be okay. 

“Sammy? Everything okay?” Dean immediately picks up. Of course he does.   
“Yeah Dean, I’m fine.”   
“Oh, okay then. What’s up? I’m still at work.” Dean grumbled through the phone. Sam could hear the background noises of gears and hammers.   
“I can wait until your break if that’d be better?” Sam asks him.   
“You just missed it.”   
“Darn, what’d you do? Grab some fast food?” Sam figures he might as well build up into the teasing.

“I actually went to a cafe. Right by your campus. Saw Cas there with his friend Hannah.” Dean is obviously distracted by whatever he’s working on.   
  


“Oh? You guys eat together then?” Sam asks, trying to seem innocent.   
“Yeah I mostly just bothered him while he was trying to work.”   
“Hm yeah okay.”   
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He heard Dean stop moving. Perfect.   
“I’ve lived with you for eighteen years, I know what your shirts look like.” Sam smiles as he delivers the line. He knows how to get under his brother’s skin. 

“He spilled beer on himself!” Dean defends himself, doing exactly what Sam thought he would.   
“I’m not saying anything!” He smirks into his phone as he rounds the corner on the building.   
  


“You better not be. Now did you actually need anything?” Dean started working again.   
“Nope! Just wanted to tease you.” Dean scoffs through the phone.

“Bitch” 

“Jerk,” Sam says before Dean hangs up on him. 

He heads over to the student lounge in Kevin’s dorm building, that’s where they hold their study group. He’s the first one here today.   
  


“Hey Sam,” Sam turns his head to see Kevin. He looks like he’s been awake for three days straight- which wouldn’t surprise him. Kevin is either working on school work or doing extracurriculars. He’s in so many clubs, Sam doesn’t really understand it. He’s only a freshmen two months into the year and is already overextending himself.   
  


“Hey Kevin, uh, when was the last time you slept?” Sam asked as Kevin spread his stuff out along a table. He has a laptop, several notebooks, a graphing calculator, and tons of looseleaf papers.

“Uh, I’m not sure. It hasn’t been too long though, don’t worry about me. Really I’m fine.” Kevin says unconvincingly. Sam squints at him but doesn’t press any further.   
  


“Hey guys!” Jess’s voice distracts Sam away from Kevin. He turns to her walking into the room. She’s wearing one of his flannels over a tank top and some blue jeans. It’s a good look on her, though he thinks she could pull off anything.   
  


“Hey Jess,” Kevin says distractedly, already working on some homework. Jess looks from Kevin to Sam with a worried look on her face. Sam just nods at her and moves over for her to sit next to him. She does and they both get their things out.   
  


Once everyone else arrives they start their class work almost immediately. Jess starts quizzing the rest of the group on some terms that’ll be on the upcoming test. Sam sits that out in favor of rereading the most recent chapter.   
  


He and Kevin talk occasionally, asking for the other’s opinion on what something meant, or just asking for help on something. The concepts were sinking in finally, so now he just had a bunch of busy work.   
  


He knows logically that it isn’t busy work, but isn’t it? It’s a ton of short answer questions on similar topics, just to make sure that you really understand. Sam was about fed up with repeating himself.   
  


“Okay, I’m gonna grab a coffee. Anyone want anything?” Sam asks after suddenly standing up. Kevin and Brady ask for something, he looks to Jess. She Just lifts up a portable mug and shakes it. He hears the liquid and moves around all the students to get out of the room.   
  


It’s not a long walk to the coffee shop, it’s just a little stand in the main room of the building. He orders the three drinks and waits for a few minutes.   
  


“Hey looky here, my new best friend Sam.” He hears a familiar rough voice say. He turns his head to see Meg and another women with her. Her friend is a little taller, with long straight brown hair, and dark brown eyes. They look pretty similar. Even their fashion sense looks alike.   
  
There’s something about the friend that is interesting to Sam. She’s... intriguing. She seems like an interesting and standoffish person. 

“Hey Meg,” he says with a wave. Meg and her friend walk closer and order their drinks.   
  


“Hi, I’m Ruby.” The friend says, she seems surprised that Meg doesn’t do it for her. She holds out a hand for Sam to shake and he doesn’t hesitate to take it.   
“Nice to meet you, I’m Sam.” Ruby nods and Meg rolls her eyes.   
  


“Order for Sam?” The barista calls out. Sam pulls his hand away from Ruby’s and moves to collect his three drinks.   
  


“Oof, three coffees? I thought you said you were having a good day?” Meg teases him. Sam rolls his eyes, he wasn’t exactly enjoying her company.   
  


“It’s for my friends, we’re studying.” He elaborates, though he’s not sure why he cares enough to do so.   
  


“What’s your major?” Ruby asks him, she seems genuinely curious too. “I mean, if you’ve decided already.”   
  


“Uh I’m prelaw, you?” He asks politely. 

“Sociology, which is... not what I would’ve said I’d be doing ten years ago.” She laughs awkwardly. Sam cracks a smile, he can relate to that at least.   
  


“Heh, yeah me neither. I wanted to be a fire fighter, typical eight year dream though I guess.” She laughs a little, Meg just looks between the two of them.   
  


“Well we don’t want to keep you from your friends,” Meg says. Sam nods and waves before he starts walking away.   
  


“It was nice to meet you Sam, I’ll see you around.” Ruby tells him, he has to turn around to see her. He smiles and she does as well.   
  


He’s shaking his head at that weird interaction as he walks back to his friends. College students are weird. 

“Thanks Sam,” Kevin says as soon as the coffee is within his reach. Sam hands him the one that he ordered and then gives Brady his. Then he settles back into the couch next to Jess. She smiles at him when she looks up from her text book. He smiles as well, and his chest feels all fluttery and light again.   
  


It’s stupid that he’s nervous around her. They’re officially dating now. She is his girlfriend. He is her boyfriend. It’s Sam’s first official girlfriend though, and that’s the reasoning he uses as to why she makes him so nervous.   
  


Jess slowly moves her right hand so it’s clasping Sam’s left hand. It’s subtle that no one notices, not that they’re keeping it a secret, they just don’t want to make a big deal out of it. He feels a grin spread across his face as he picks his textbook back up. He doesn’t look at her but he can tell she’s smiling too.   
  


The light rustling of the papers keep him from sinking too far off. He’s tired and a little confused. They’ve been studying for a couple hours now. Every once and a while they take breaks to talk or they’ll ask a group question.   
  


“Okay guy, I think I’m worn out for the day.” Jess states as she moves to put her things away.   
  


Sam can’t help but smile that they’re on the same page without even talking about it. They’re so similar they even get tired at the same time.   
  


“Yeah me too.” Sam announces as he closes down his laptop. Kevin and Brady don’t pay them much attention though. Kevin is pouring over some old notes and Brady is typing furiously at his laptop. He told them earlier that he had an English paper due tomorrow.   
  


“Alright, same time tomorrow?” Kevin asks without looking up.   
  


“Yeah for sure. Thanks guys,” Sam says while putting on his backpack.   
  


“See ya later!” Jess says as her and Sam begin to leave. He puts his hand out to the side for her to hold. She looks at him with a smile and takes it.   
  


Once they’re out of the building and into the fresh air she takes in an over the top deep breath. Sam grins at her theatrics, and she starts swinging their hands between them. He mostly just lets her drag his hand but he contributes a little.   
  


The late October sun is slowly setting on the campus, creating orange streaks between the trees. It’s mostly warm there, but later at night it cools off. The darkness of night hasn’t kicked in yet, which Sam is grateful for. He loves the way sunlight reflects off of Jess’s hair and eyes.   
  


“Sam, have I ever told you how pretty your eyes look in the sun?” Jess asks after a couple minutes of them walking, taking glances at each other.   
  


Sam laughs and can feel the blush on his face. He’s mostly surprised though, he’d never thought much about his eyes at all.   
  


“My eyes?” He asks her incredulously. She smiles without her teeth and nods.   
  


“Yeah, they’re a light Hazel usually but now they look kind of golden. With a tint of green.” She describes while looking directly at him. He can’t help but smile at her.   
  


“It’s funny, I was just thinking how pretty your eyes look in the sun. They light up.” She blushes but doesn’t look away. She actually moves closer to him, making their arms flush as she leans on him.   
  


They walk to one of the campus cafe’s for dinner, and eat together outside. They both love the sunlight shining on each other.   
  


Dean is working on the last bit of a repair before he heads on home. It’s about six right now, he’s working a little overtime today. The boss won’t care though, he hardly notices the workers.   
  


Dean closes the top of the car and brushes his hands together as if that would help clean them off. When that doesn’t work he grabs a nearby rag and wipes the grease off his hands as best as he can.   
  


“It’s Dean, right?” A low voice says from the other side of the car. Dean looks up from his hands to see his coworker. He’s a big guy with a bit of a beard. A low voice with a New Orleans accent, which never fails to surprise Dean when it falls from this guys lips.   
  


“Yeah, Benny?” He takes a risk with the name but the other man smiles slightly and nods.   
  


“You done for the day?” Benny asks as Dean grabs the paper to write up the report.   
“Yep, just gotta jot a few things down before I head out.” Dean figures he can do the rest tomorrow, it’s already been a long day.   
  


“This is nice work here,” Benny notes as he looks over Dean’s reports for the week. It’s a little intrusive sure, but Dean does just leave them lying around on his work stand.   
  


“Thanks man,” Dean’s pretty distracted but doesn’t want to completely brush off this guy. He seems nice enough and Dean could always have more friends.

“I’m sorry, did you need something?” Dean tries to say politely. Benny doesn’t seem to notice the tone that comes with his words.   
  


“Just thought it was time we talk, you’ve worked here for a while.” His voice drawls with the accent, though Dean can’t help but be a little drawn to it. It’s interesting and new to him.   
  


“Right, I hate to be rude, but I gotta date with my shower so...” Dean puts down his form and collects all of them into a folder.   
  


Benny shrugs like it’s no problem for him either way.   
  


“That’s alright, didn’t mean to keep you.”  
“No, it’s not a big deal.”   
“It was nice to officially meet you,” Benny holds out his hand. Dean wipes his hand off on his t shirt before shaking.   
“You too, Benny.”

  
When Dean slides into his car and sits he almost lets out a sigh of relief. He’s been working his ass off all day, and it’s been a while since he’s sat down.   
  


He starts driving after putting on his music, currently in the tape player was The Kinks. “A Well Respected Man” is playing through the impala. And Dean absolutely loves the speakers in his car right now, the way that the sound just rolls around the walls.   
  


He nods along with the song, not getting distracted while he drives. His stomach growls as he approaches his building.   
  


“Yeah I know,” he grumbles to his stomach. He’s going to grab some food- but only after a nice and long shower. That last car left him feeling especially covered in grease.   
  


The shower feels amazing on Dean’s sore muscles. The hot water is much appreciated. He’s honestly surprised there’s this much hot water left at this point of the day. Most of the days he gets home to a lukewarm shower.   
  


Dean makes himself a couple quesadillas on his stove, and makes sure to add some salsa. He usually grabs fast food for dinner, or eats whatever Charlie has. But tonight he didn’t feel like he could wait any longer for some food.   
  


He glances at his phone. It reads 6:38. Man he took a long shower, he thought. He doesn’t have any texts from Sammy or Cas. Though Charlie’s name pops up after a minute of Dean checking his email.   
  


**Charlie:** Hey I have a study group tonight so no Buffy night :( 

**Dean:** Don’t worry about it

 **Charlie:** I usually don’t go to group but I have a test coming up 

**Dean:** Yeah Cas told me, really don’t worry about it

 **Dean:** Also I hope you don’t mind, Cas is coming over to watch Tombstone 

**Charlie:** Mind? I’m glad I’m not the one being subjected to your weird cowboy fetish 

**Dean:** Okay- it’s not a fetish 

**Charlie:** Sure. Totally

 **Dean:** Okay fuck off 

**Charlie:** :) 

**Dean:** Good luck on your test or whatever 

**Charlie:** Thanks Deano!   
  


Dean sighs and throws his phone back onto his couch. He had put on an acdc shirt and pajama pants after his shower, so at least he was comfortable. And not smelling of grease anymore. That’s always a plus.   
  


Dean had his eyes closed, ready to take a quick nap. That’s when he remembered. Cas has never been to Dean’s apartment. No one has besides Sam and a few ladies. But those women weren’t exactly looking at the state of his living space. He opens his eyes quickly, his place is a mess.   
  


With a sigh he stands and starts cleaning up. Throwing away garbage and recycling old beer bottles and cans. He just closes the door to his room, he doesn’t have the time or energy to clean any of that.   
  


He doesn’t need to clean the bathroom much, it’s not like it’s disgusting. But he does clean the drain of the shower and move the bathroom garbage to the regular garbage. That one has a lid on it at least. He also finds a candle Sam bought him once, and lights it up in the living room. He’s used to his own smell, but not everyone is.   
  


He remembers when he was a kid, going to other people’s houses was always weird. They never smelled right. He later learned that every family kind of had their own smell. Once his dad started moving them around they didn’t really have that as much. They stayed in fresh hotel rooms and dingy motel rooms. They all came with their own scents.   
  


His current apartment didn’t smell like much when he moved in. Though since he’s been here it just smells like him. His clothes, his shampoo, his deodorant, him. He hoped it wasn’t a bad smell. He hadn’t ever gotten complaints.   
  


Last time he had someone over was two weeks ago. A woman named Lydia, she was a tall and beautiful blonde. She was really cool too, they actually talked before they slept together. Which wasn’t something that happened often for Dean. She was cool, he wonders if he still had her number.   
  


He checks his phone again, to see how much time he has. It’s 7:45, geez it had taken him a while to do all that. In his last fifteen minutes he pretty much just straightened out his furniture and looked for the dvd of Tombstone.   
  


He had a whole dvd shelf, like a mini bookshelf almost. He knew that a lot of things were streamed now, but he likes to keep things like dvds and tapes. Something he can hold onto. He trusts them more.   
  


He has a whole shelf dedicated to cowboy movies. He had been obsessed with them since he was a kid. The adventure and the cheesiness of them was priceless. Where else was he supposed to watch two guys have a shoot out in a quite ghost town, with the entire town watching on.   
  


There was just a certain mood and tone to westerns that no other genre could replicate.   
  


He finds Tombstone and sets it up in his DVD player. It’s a little rickety but it works well enough. He’s hitting the side of the machine when he hears a knock at the door. He gives it one more slap before standing up to answer the door.   
  


Cas is standing on the other side, he’s wearing a button down and jeans with his traditional overcoat. That thing needs a wash for sure. Dean lets him in before he even realizes that Cas has something in his hand. He closes the door without a word.   
  


“Here, I washed it too.” Cas handed him his folded Led Zeppelin shirt. Dean looks down at it and grabs it with a smile.   
“Thanks man, you really didn’t need to wash it though.” Cas shrugs and looks around his apartment a little.   
  


“Right, You’re new here.” Dean says, pointing at Castiel.   
“It’s basically the same layout as Charlie’s but reflected.” Cas notes aloud. Dean looks around and nods, he hadn’t really noticed that before.   
  


“You can go ahead and sit down, I’m gonna put this away.” He gestures to the shirt in his hand before walking to his room. He normally would just toss the shirt on the table or couch, but Cas strikes him as a classy guy.   
  


He walks into his room, the lights are all out but he knows his way around. He glances down at the shirt. It’s one of his favorites. Why had he let Cas borrow this one? It was the closest one to him last night, his brain tries to rationalize. But it wasn’t really. He could’ve grabbed anything but he went into his drawer and chose this one. It wasn’t buried or anything, but He could’ve picked the one next to it, a Pink Floyd shirt. He didn’t care about that one as much.   
  


It was probably just drunk Dean though. He grabbed a shirt without looking which one it was. It was on top of his drawer, but so were three other shirts.   
  


Dean wasn’t even that drunk. Was he? He remembers everything at least. Though he is a little embarrassed about it. 

His face almost heats up at the memory. The dark room and the soft blanket, and the warm body next to him. He wasn’t ashamed of what he said. He trusts Cas. Weirdly enough, he does. But he isn’t a fan of being vulnerable, and he definitely was last night.   
  


Cas was shifting to move closer to Dean. Dean could feel the fabric of his own t shirt move between their skin. The room was hazy, the light was barely peaking through the half ass attempt of a closed curtain. He couldn’t really see anything, besides the things directly in light. He couldn’t see Cas though. Maybe that’s why he told him about his dad.   
  


Maybe he thought it would be the same as speaking aloud while alone. Like the darkness of the room would eat up his words like they did most nights when Dean talked to himself.   
  


But Cas was there. He heard him. Such a strange thing for Dean, to be heard.   
  


He trusted Cas though. He trusted him not to judge his family situation, or his confusion with his sexuality. Which he only acknowledged with a few drinks in his system. He also trusted that the conversation would stay between them.   
  


He shakes his head of these thoughts and walks into his living room. Cas is sitting on the couch with his coat slung over the arm rest, and he’s still wearing his shoes.   
  


“Dude, you can take your shoes off.” Dean says as he enters the room, he climbs over the back of the couch and sits next to his friend.   
  


“I wasn’t sure if you had rules about shoes in your home. I didn’t want to presume.” He leans over to take his shoes off. Dean scoffs.   
  


“Cas, buddy, I am not even wearing socks right now.” Dean says while looking for the remote.   
  


“Yes, but it is your home.” Dean liked the way he phrased that. Dean usually just called it his apartment. So did Sam and Charlie. But Cas calls it his home. It’s nice.   
  


“Well whatever. Now, are you ready?” Dean had found the remote and was curled up in a blanket. He was sitting up in anticipation, he loves this movie and was excited to show it to Cas.   
  


“For the film? Yes, I think I can manage.” He says sarcastically with a deadpan. Dean gives him a face that reads ‘come on man’. Cas looks at him with a calm smile on his face. His smile only grows when he sees Dean’s bitch face.   
  


“Sorry, yes I am ready for this western film that you love.” Cas amends his previous statement and Dean gives him a satisfied smile.   
  


“Thank you,” he presses play on the film. The trailers start. “I can never get anyone to watch this with me, it’s brilliant though- you’ll see.” Dean claims as he tosses a blanket at Cas, who was sitting awkwardly.   
  


“Hm, why is that?” Cas asks as he spreads the blanket out.   
  


“Well I’ve made Sam sit through it at least once a year since I first saw it. He finally put a stop to it last year.” Cas chuckled at the thought. “And Charlie isn’t a fan of westerns in general, more of a sci-fi gal. My uncle Bobby sometimes indulges me enough to watch it with me, but he’s back in Kansas.”   
  


“I didn’t know Bobby was your uncle, Sam talks about him sometimes.”   
“Well technically he’s not. But he practically raised us so as far as I’m concerned he’s family.” Cas nods as the movie actually starts. 

“Okay shut up!” Dean says and hits Cas’s shoulder. Cas just glares at him for a moment before turning back to the screen.   
  


The old music reminds Dean so much of growing up. Anytime Dad was actually in the mood to talk to his sons he’d sit down with them as pull out a western. He liked them for a masculinity and guns most likely. Dean liked them because of the adventure, and the idea of living alone and being self sufficient. He could never do that, could never leave his world behind. That’d mean leaving Sammy.   
  


He also adored the aesthetic of it all, the music and the sound cues. The rustic vibes, the rolling desert shots, the old saloons, the old coloring that the movies had back then.   
  


He allows himself to settle into his own couch. His home. It’s a good end to a long day. Sitting at home with a western and a friend. 


End file.
